LEGO Dragon Figures and Other Fantastic Creatures

Our final animal article? Wow… Today, we’ll start with fantastic LEGO creatures and finish up with dragon figures. These are distributed between land, air and water animals. They are found both in licensed and unlicensed themes. Some are really beautiful, but brick-built. I won’t mention them in general, but talk about their unique parts.

I thought about how to organize the article as I was researching. I felt going chronologically will be a bit confusing, so this time we’ll follow the themes. It’s possible to find LEGO dragon figures in various themes, so we’ll look at them separately.

Like the others in the series, this article will be updated as new animals are released. The name of the colors used here are the Bricklink colors. To see a better image of the color, please visit this link, search for the color, and click on its name to go to Rylie Howerter’s Flickr page.

Right, let’s begin then. What are our fantastic beasts and where can we find them :)

Fantastic Creatures in Unlicensed Themes

When you exclude the LEGO dragon figures and the licensed creatures, there aren’t many of these.

Our first creature is the Rock Monster coming with the Rock Raiders theme in 1999. Honestly, it feels weird to categorize this as an animal. The creatures sharing the same name released under Power Miners in 2009 are listed as minifigures, this one as an animal. The small ones don’t fit the description of a LEGO minifigure, either. Since we’re talking about creatures, I’m going to include the small ones here, too. Below are some of the rock monsters from 1999 and 2009.

There are three creatures released in Adventurers Orient Expedition sets in 2003; Yeti, Tygurah and Junchi. See? If the small rock monsters I mentioned above are counted as minifigures, these should as well! But since they’re listed under animals, might as well mention them here.

Skip the dragons and the licensed ones, and we’re in 2011. This creature is one of my favorites. It is released with the Alien Conquest theme, some sort of… thing? With the noble mission of controlling humans by sitting on their heads :)) The little green men (lime, to be more accurate) coming with the CMF Space series reminded me of it. They even share the same color.

There’s a three-tailed wolf released with the Ninjago theme in 2019. I really like this figure. According to the story, the girl called Akita can shapeshift into a wolf, and this figure represents her wolf form. You can see her human and animal form below.

That’s it. Nope, you didn’t read wrong, we’re done. I was very hopeful of the Dreamzzz theme; it’s one of the most fantastic unlicensed themes, but everything there is brick-built. The dreamlings count as minifigures, fine, but I refuse to call the creature below a minifigure! Even Bricklink lists its body part as creature/cat, so how is it a minifigure?? Thank goodness we’re in the final article…

Fantastic Creatures in Licensed Themes

Star Wars (1999) and Harry Potter (2001) are two of the oldest licensed LEGO themes. They are very rich in terms of creatures, but this can be a disadvantage as well. Creatures found in both universes aren’t like the ones we see in real life. That means they will need unique moulds, and the moulds will probably be used only in those themes. That might be one of the reasons for not having many creatures. Also, people are more interested in buildings, minifigures and spacecraft, and that’s probably the main reason.

Star Wars

We open up shop with the Kaadu in 2000. This creature reflects its on-screen version pretty well, considering how old it is. It has an earth orange color.

A Dewback arrives in 2004. It consists of 12 parts, using some from the Dinosaurs theme. A new version is released in 2014, with parts unique to the creature. One with a new eye print is released in 2020. This new mould only allows the animal to open its mouth, nothing else. The old Dewback is sand green, the new ones olive green.

Rideable animals continue in 2005. This time we have a Varactyl named Boga. It consists of 33 parts, mostly dark green and sand green. Its head is unique, but its legs, feet and part of its body re-uses Dinosaurs parts.

The Tauntaun comes out in 2009. It has two different versions, one with a rigid tail, the other with a flexible tail. Both have a light bluish gray body with tan horns. The rigid tailed version is released between 2009-2011, the flexible between 2011-2016. It consists of 6 pieces, all unique. The horn and rein pieces are used afterwards in other sets.

We get a Wampa in 2010. It’s white, uses the Tauntaun’s horns in dark bluish gray. Other than the horns, all its parts are unique (except the connection pieces).

Jabba’s scary Rancor roars into our lives in 2013. It consists of 18 parts, all unique except the claws. The paw and claw parts are only used in one minifigure afterwards, Killer Croc from the LEGO Batman Movie sets. It has a reddish brown color with tan sharp claws.

A Corellian Hound comes in 2018 with Solo: A Star Wars Story sets. It’s in white and represents the on-screen appearance pretty well.

And that’s it for our Star Wars creatures. Like I mentioned before, getting the 500^th variation of the same minifigure or the same spaceship is more interesting for most people, so the creatures are discarded. I still have hope, though, maybe we’ll see an official Bantha one day. Until then, here’s a custom one I really love.

Harry Potter

This theme is luckier than Star Wars, because some animals play a big role in the movies. That’s why there are more species as well as more mould updates.

We begin with a baby dragon in 2001: Norbert. This will be discussed in detail under dragons.

Our three-headed dog Fluffy is from 2001, too. It consists of four parts, a body and three heads. These heads are all the same, but when it’s re-released as a brick-built animal in 2021, they have different prints. The tiny parts make articulation possible, but I still like the old version more. The first one is brown with black legs, the second is mostly reddish brown.

In 2002, Fawkes flies in. It has a red body with a marbled orange tail. I really liked it when I first saw it, then the mould got renewed in 2020 with the Harry Potter CMF series, which I loved. The first one comes in one set, the second in two (for now).

Who’s next? The super-scary Basilisk, of course! It only appears in one set in 2002. It consists of 13 parts, its head, neck and body unique to it. The tail parts can be found in sets both before and after. The body parts appear in some Bionicle and City sets later. The one released in 2021 as a brick-built animal has only one unique part, the upper head.

Buckbeak arrives in 2004. It consists of three parts, the body and the wings, and comes unprinted. Still, the feathers on its neck and wings are reflected really well. It has a light bluish gray body and dark bluish gray wings. The mould is renewed in 2019, the place where the wings sit change and comes printed. This new figure shares the same colors as the first one. The ones released in 2022 and 2024 have a white body with flat silver wings. The old version can be found in two sets, the new ones in one set each.

The first adult dragon is released in 2005, a Hungarian Horntail. This will be discussed in detail under dragons.

We get our first Thestral in 2007. It has five parts, a body, wings, and clip parts for the wings. This version can be found in one set, but later it jumps to Castle and Monster Fighters without its wings, in white and glow in dark white. It appears again in 2018, this time in a new mould. The body is black, wings are black with marbled trans-brown. The color of the wings changes to black and marbled dark bluish gray in 2022, and a baby Thestral accompanies it. The baby can be found in two sets, the adults in one set each.

The super cute Niffler steals our hearts in 2018. It has a black body with nougat snout, hands and feet. So far it has appeared in only two sets. I don’t know about you, but I’m still waiting for different colors of this little thief.

In 2021, we get a Cornish Pixie. These creatures can be found with two prints in four sets, all in satin trans-dark blue.

Grindylow arrives in 2023. It doesn’t reflect the viciousness of its on-screen counterpart at all. It’s made in satin trans-brown, and looks beautiful in different light conditions. It can only be found in one set.

We start 2024 with a new Norbert mould (more under dragons), and finish the Harry Potter animals.

The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit

Two different moulds, two different species, five animals in total. To be honest, when I think about the movies, I can’t remember many of them, except for the horses and the spiders. There’s also Smaug, but that will come later.

Wargs are released in 2012 and 2013. Using the same mould, they come in white, dark bluish gray and dark brown. The head moves, the mouth opens, and it’s possible to put a saddle on them.

We have two giant eagles released in 2013 and 2014. Both are reddish brown with dark brown wingtips. The one released in 2014, representing Gwaihir, has dark brown tail feathers as well.

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Marvel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Disney and Avatar

The rest of the licensed themes aren’t as rich in terms of fantastic creatures. We start with Momo from Avatar: The Last Airbender (2006), Morris from Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings (2021), and the six-legged Direhorse from Avatar (2006).

Kraang from TMNT is also listed as an animal. I mean, come on! The guy is pure brains!

Disney has Tuk Tuk and Ongis from Raya and the Last Dragon, and Star from Wish (maybe a new category should be added to Bricklink, named Animals, Fantastic?).

Dungeons & Dragons

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more fantastic creatures released under this theme. We open up with a four-legged brain, coming with the Dungeons & Dragons CMF in 2024. Its official name is Intellect Devourer. Seriously, though, haven’t these creatures been roaming the earth invisibly for years?

LEGO Dragon Figures

The LEGO dragon is the first fantastic creature. It’s released between 1993-2000, in green and black, in a total of 11 Castle sets. There’s also a special dragon released in 2003, black with gold printing, appearing in only one set.

These dragons are made of 7 pieces. The lower jaw, body and legs are fixed together. The arms are used in some of the dinosaur figures in the following years. The head and the tail are later used in the first crocodile figure. The wings have appeared in many other sets, too. The one from 2003 has a unique head and tail piece. The chrome gold head piece is used in only one set afterwards.

We get our first baby dragon in 2001. Starting its life as Norbert from the Harry Potter theme, it flies off to Castle and Ninjago in the following years. It appears in 12 sets in light bluish gray, black, dark green, sand green and pearl gold. Hasn’t been seen since 2016.

In 2005 another dragon comes with the Harry Potter sets: Hungarian Horntail. It’s mostly reddish brown, consists of 27 pieces, and its body, head and tail tip mould are unique. Its wings are used in two Viking sets that come out the same year, in brick-built dragons. It’s re-made in 2019, this time brick-built, and looks more like a bird than a dragon if you ask me.

With the LEGO Castle theme, we get a red and a black dragon in 2007, a green one in 2008, and another red one in 2013. These dragons are more detailed than the first, both in terms of printing and part count. The first three use more or less the same parts, the only difference being the colors and prints. The green dragon’s headpiece is different and armored, and the one from 2013 has a unique lower jaw. The head, body, arm and leg pieces of these dragons are only used in these figures. The tail tips are same as the Hungarian Horntail’s, but in different colors. The wings are used in the following years in different colors, mostly as dragon wings. The newest one comes with the Dreamzzz sets of 2023.

We get our largest dragon in 2014: Smaug. It consists of 36 parts, all of them unique except a few connection and accessory pieces.

A new baby dragon arrives with the Elves theme. You can find it in 7 different color combinations: Medium azure and magenta, bright light orange and trans-orange, lime and trans-green, dark azure and trans-blue, white and trans-light blue, aqua and trans-dark pink, lavender and trans-purple. These Elves sets have 7 adult dragons, too; all brick-built with unique upper and lower jaws. The other brick-built fantastic animals from the theme also have unique head parts. There are three, Fire Lion, Earth Fox and Water Turtle.

The newest LEGO dragon figures are Riyu from Ninjago (2023) and the renewed Norbert from Harry Potter (2024). Riyu is sand blue and appears in 5 sets. Norbert is olive green, can be found in only one set. There’s also a new baby dragon mould coming with the 2024 Ninjago summer sets. It can only be found in three sets at the moment, in pearl gold and trans-orange.

Note to self: Don’t use the word “newest” in an article you promised to keep updating. Why? Because a new animal may appear any second! This cute baby red dragon comes with the 2024 Dungeons & Dragons CMF series.

My interest in fantastic creatures in general turned into an interest in dragons after the How to Train Your Dragon movies. However; the classic LEGO dragon is still among my favorites. I don’t prefer the brick-built ones, but watch the Ninjago theme very closely, the designs are really beautiful.

LEGO DUPLO Dragon Figures

There are a total of 5 LEGO DUPLO dragon figures. Four of them are from the Castle theme, released between 2004-2006, one from Doc McStuffins of Disney, in 2015. The ones from Castle use the same mould, at least three of them do. The only difference is their colors: Dark red-bright light orange, black-red and dark green-dark tan combinations. The fourth one has an armored head piece along with an armored body, and is colored accordingly in pearl light gray and black.

The dragon from Doc McStuffins is called Stuffy and has a dark azure color.

There are no more fantastic animals among DUPLO figures.

Aaaand cut!

Right, since we have finished LEGO dragon and fantastic creature figures, the animal series is done – for now :) If you’re into it, don’t forget to check out the other ones.

See you in the next article!

 

Oh, before I forget, here are a few comparison images.

 

Image Sources

After realizing it’s a treasure trove, I visited eBay continuously to get images. Apart from that, I may have stolen a few (okay, a lot) from Brickset, Bricklink, Brickowl, Rebrickable, Eurobricks, Jay’s Brick Blog, Atlbrick, Hoth Bricks, The Brick Fan, Steinpalast, Bricks&Minifigs Anaheim, Toypro and Flickr pages. The on-screen appearances of creatures are from various Wiki pages. The comparison images, except the last one, belong to me, along with single images of a few animals.